When observing images of human populations around the globe, it is difficult not to notice our variance in skin color. This visible variety is not often seen in other species and even sets us apart from our primate relatives. Like many other traits, skin color is one that exists as a result of evolution through natural selection. How and why has this trait evolved with such variety? What was once a mystery has been solved thanks to anthropology and genetics.

In HHMI's newest video, Dr. Nina Jablonski, a Penn State biological anthropologist and author of Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color, takes viewers along on her quest to solve the mystery of skin color. The journey begins with an explanation of melanin, which comes in two forms: reddish-yellow (i.e., pheomelanin) and black and brown (i.e., eumelanin). Eumelanin in particular is responsible for protecting our body from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation that penetrates cells, possibly causing mutations. The narrative …